CODEWITHSUNDEEP
windowsandroidandroid-emulatorandroid-virtual-device
Dariusz Bacinski
Dariusz Bacinski

Reputation: 8700

Moving default AVD configuration folder (.android)

After installation of Android SDK, the folder .android was created on the E:\ drive. As far as I know, this is the default folder of Android Virtual Devices for configuration files.

How can I move .android folder to a different location?

(eg. from E:\.android to E:\Android\.android)

Upvotes: 128

Views: 109196

Answers (9)

Firate
Firate

Reputation: 159

Chosen answer is kinda outdated.

As of Giraffe | 2022.3.1 (Stable): when changing the default android avd folder, you need to add a new environment variable for ANDROID_USER_HOME. The value should lead to the location of the new folder, in your case:

ANDROID_USER_HOME = E:\Android\.android

If you have android studio with a lower version (4.3 or earlier), you have to use ANDROID_SDK_HOME instead of ANDROID_USER_HOME.

ANDROID_SDK_HOME = E:\Android

To override the user preferences location for those older tools, set ANDROID_SDK_HOME to the parent directory you would like the .android directory to be created under.

If you have AVDs and you're not able to run them after changing the location of the .android folder.

Error thrown when running an emulator

Then you might want to look at the *.ini configuration file of each of your AVDs. It is located inside the avd folder E:\Android\.android\avd Inside the AVD folder

If each emulator's path does not lead to the new specified location, correct it. Correct way of AVD paths

Upvotes: 3

Cyber Avater
Cyber Avater

Reputation: 2147

  1. (Optional) Download Rapid Environment Editor
  2. Add a new system variable

ANDROID_PREFS_ROOT = D:\IDE\Externals\ANDROID_PREFS_ROOT (The folder you want to move to.)

  1. Save and you're done.

Upvotes: 3

Dennis M
Dennis M

Reputation: 39

If you would like your avd sdcard and files on a different drive, go to $HOME/.android/avd and move the folder <AVD_NAME>.avd to someplace else

Edit $HOME/.android/avd/<AVD_NAME>.ini and change

path=<NEW_AVD_LOCATION>/<AVD_NAME>.avd

$HOME depends on your system. On windows it can be your user directory

Upvotes: 1

rtsketo
rtsketo

Reputation: 1256

If you want to move just the AVD folder and not everything else, use those environmental variables.

ANDROID_EMULATOR_HOME: Sets the path to the user-specific emulator configuration directory. The default location is $ANDROID_SDK_HOME/.android/.

ANDROID_AVD_HOME: Sets the path to the directory that contains all AVD-specific files, which mostly consist of very large disk images. The default location is $ANDROID_EMULATOR_HOME/avd/. You might want to specify a new location if the default location is low on disk space.

Upvotes: 2

MCP2019
MCP2019

Reputation: 131

If you go for this answer be aware of this note: Starting with Android Studio 4.2, the ANDROID_SDK_HOME environment variable is deprecated and has been replaced with ANDROID_PREFS_ROOT.

Upvotes: 13

Dariusz Bacinski
Dariusz Bacinski

Reputation: 8700

I've found the answer.

  • Move .android folder to E:\Android
  • Create environment variable called ANDROID_SDK_HOME and set its value to E:\Android

Setting the environment variable on Windows XP or Windows 7:

  1. Right-click on My Computer and choose "Properties"
  2. Click the "Advanced" tab
  3. Click the button "Environment Variables".
  4. Add New variable

Upvotes: 245

RonTLV
RonTLV

Reputation: 2566

By default, the emulator stores configuration files under $HOME/.android/ and AVD data under $HOME/.android/avd/. You can override the defaults by setting the following environment variables.

The emulator searches the avd directory in the order of the values in $ANDROID_AVD_HOME, $ANDROID_SDK_HOME/.android/avd/, and $HOME/.android/avd/.

This page provides the list of environmental variables supported by android studio: https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/variables

Upvotes: 29

shmoo
shmoo

Reputation: 119

In addition to the answer provided by Dariusz Bacinski, you have to include the .android folder in the ANDROID_SDK_HOME path. It was not working for me if I did not include the .android folder.

Upvotes: 6

robbash
robbash

Reputation: 1093

The path set in ANDROID_SDK_HOME must exist. Otherwise the default path will be chosen. But it is not necessary to include .android. The AVD Manager creates a .android folder, if not found in ANDROID_SDK_HOME.

Upvotes: 9

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